Reader Comments (20)

I thought after he made a movie showing himself toss a sliding worm weight into the North Umpqua, which is ILLEGAL, people would have written him off.....or at least stop paying him to think of tradition killing rubber flies. Skagit Master my ass.....There is nothing masterful about dropping a 1/2oz worm weight in front of a flashfly on one of the most fabled rivers of all-time.

Common... Give this guy a break. There are plenty of flies that use rubberlegs as their main ingredient that in turn make the fly productive. Although other flies may be just as effective, Scott stated his point. Instead of sitting down and tying a fly for 45 minutes and have it be trashed by the first fish that smacks it, he has come up with an alternative that saves him a little extra time and he catches the same amount of fish. And lets face it... this fly it a hell of a lot more time consuming then a damn pats rubber legs.

These are pretty effective ties, I am not sure why everyone is taking it so personally. He is a great fisherman, and ties great stuff, and from what I hear he is a good dude. Take your axe and grind it someplace else.

It is funny to me how many fishermen won't try something until it is done in a video by someone supposedly expert in fly fishing steelhead.

If these people actually lived someplace with steelhead fishing left they would realize how easy they actually are to catch and you don't need no bass jig fly.

I am not even dissing the bass jig fly. I have messed around with those rubber skirts over the years and see nothing wrong with it. I am mostly dissing on how many fishermen out there think steelhead fishing is a science. It is not. These fish are dumb. Try whatever floats your boat but don't be so quick to call it innovative. That is highly unlikely.

I have been on many trips where guys were trying to catch them on odd ball patterns for the hell of it the fishing was so good. That can be part of the fun. No reason to think with such strict vision of what is and isn't a fly and than being blown away when you find out Scott Howell catches them on a clump of colored rubber tied to a hook.

Over half the guys I see are still not swinging their flies right and snagging up way too much out there. They are changing their flies way too much. Wasting time. Once they figure out how to fish a fly on the swing, land about 50 fish, they will understand what steelhead flies are actually all about. It ain't catching. If it was the, best fly would be a yarnie or similar egg pattern.

If anyone who fly fishes for steelhead thinks that there has been any Innovation in fly tying in a hundred years their either not very informed or they have been smelling the glue too much. We just change the colors to what has been done for decades if not longer. Chill out and have some fun.

@Wolfbait: Weighted flies and sinking lines are legal on the North from October 1 to June 30th. Unweighted rule is only in effect in summer. Right there on page 44 of the regs. Or ask anyone who fishes there with any frequency.

You guys who wanna talk shit on this guy are just showing how stupid you are. Swingin for steelhead is unique to each person. The way we do it doesn't matter as much as just doing it. How many of you out there in the peanut gallery have devoted as much of your lives to chaseing steelhead as this guy?

Boys, boys....c'mon now. Fishing however you want to should be enjoyable. As long as it's legal. And I think you're right when you say all the patterns have already been tied in one form , or another. Let's just enjoy the sport the way the founding fathers would have wanted.....in our own way. Legally, of course. And who knows, someone else might actually think "your way" is the coolest.